Moon Lander Launch Plans From a Private Company

Recent mover and shaker Moon Express wants to send a robotic spacecraft to the moon in 2015. CEO Bob Richards says that the MX-1 will use scientific instruments and sensors to study resources that are limited on Earth but "available in infinite quantities in space." NPR reports that the coffee table-sized spacecraft, which was announced on Thursday at Autodesk University in Las Vegas, will use solar-power and hydrogen peroxide-based fuel to lower costs. Moon Express is currently trying for a £22 million Lunar X Prize from Google. The company has shown its interest in resources and mining before in its first partnership to build a telescope with the International Lunar Observatory Association to launch the ILO-X telescope to explore the Moon's south pole by 2015. [NPR via The Verge]